Process of reclaiming old or waste vulcanized india-rubber.



T. GARE. PROCESS OF RECLAIMING OLD 0B WASTE VULOANIZED INDIA RUBBER.

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1906.

1,133,952. I Patented Mar.30,1 915.

[nven/iar 74262268365 I Tim W ifoj jzey b w my improved process may becarried out.

Figure 1 being partly a longitudinal secv THOMAS GARE, OF NEW BRIGHTON,ENGLAND.

PROCESS RECLAIMIN G OLD. OR WASTE VULCANIZED INDIA-RUBBER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 30, 1915.

Application filed September'l'l, 1908. Serial No. 885,020.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS ject 'of Great Britain, Brighton, in thecounty of Chester, Kingdom of Great Britain, have invented new anduseful Improvements in the Process of Reclaiming Old or Waste VulcanizedIndia- Rubber, of which the following is a'specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a partly mechanical andpartly chemical process whereby old or dia rubber can be re-claimed,that is to say, converted into a homogeneous plastic mass read forremanufacture or being made into residing at New a so ution, very muchquicker and cheaper than hitherto has been the case and without -usingde-sulfurizing agents or the rubber losing any of its properties.

en converting old or waste vulcamzed india rubber in its manufacturedform into a homogeneous plastic mass, it is subjected to the followingcontemporaneously conducted successive steps .of operations,namelyFirst, being minced into pieces of a size approximately of from to{i of an inch by being forced through a mincing de-- vice. Second, beingsimultaneously minced and milled into smaller particles and a partlyplastic state, by being forced from the said mincing device through oneor more combined mincing and millin devices of successive finer grade.Thir being finally milled to a fine homogeneous plastic mass by beingforced through a milling device only. During the said mincing operationthe old or waste vulcanized india rubher is cut u and during the millinopera.- tion ground and dissolved into a p astic or liquid state, thedevices used for this operation being preferably of the disk type, thedisks having plain surfaces.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing which shows a form of machine which.

tion and partly an elevation, and Fi 2 a detached cross section oftheperforate disk.

Similar letters throughout the various views.

a is the casing of the machinemade in sections, 6 the feeding screw, 0the hopper which supplies the screw 6 with the rubber to be .t eated.

GARE, sub-- waste vulcanized inrefer to' similar parts,

Between the flanges of each casing sections are secured perforated disksd, d se-- cured to and adapted to-rotate with the screw 6, theperforations of each of the said sets of disks diminishing in size fromthe feed to the delivery end of the machine. In the end section of themachine a further series of disks are arranged, f of which arestationary and g secured to and adapted to rotate with the shaft 72..The disks (2, e serve to mince, the disks d, e to mince and partly mill,and the disks f and g to finally mill the rubber into a fluid casingsection containing the latter disks has an aperture 6 and scrapers isprojecting through it to bear against the disks and thereby deliver thefluid or plastic mass produced.

When converting old or waste vulcanized india rubber reduced to a finepowder which at present is a commercial commodity, the first mincing andcombined mincing and milling operations are dispensed with, while whenusing rubber reduced to a coarser grade, the said mincing operation willbe entirely and the said combined mincing and milling operations partlydispensed with.

It may here be remarked that during the second step of operations therubber is not only further reduced but at the same time partly broughtinto a plastic state while the last operation transforms it into acomplete homogeneous plasticmass. During the afore-mentioned mincing andmilling operations the rubber is subjected to indirect heat, and, also,to continuous pressure due to the action of screw 6, this pressureserving to completely expel the air from the rubber and thus prevent anydeterioration of the latter consequent upon the heat and rubbing. Inorder to facilitate the said operations, the old or waste. vulcanizedrubber to be converted intoa plastic mass may be softened by boilingresin, benzolin of other suitable li uids previous to being subjected tothe sai operation, or the india rubber ma be heated indirectly whileunder the various steps of operations, or again a suitable solvent maybe mixed with 1t while being subjected to the first step of operation,which also serves as a lubricant in forcing the rubber through thevarious stages. The

rubber being forced through the said desay. within from 5-15 minutes orplastic mass. The

' and the whole of the operations is continuous and very rapid, therubber is not liable to become hard again during or between the variousstages of the operations.

According to the consistency or quality of the plastic rubber to beproduced from old or waste vulcanized rubber in the manner described orthe use for which it is intended, suitable gums, mineral matter,pigments, benzolin, turpentine, naphtha may be mixed therewith duringthe first stage of the said operations.

I am aware that previous to my invention vulcanized rubber has beenreduced to powder form by grinding and also to a plastic or liquid stateby the treatment with pure alcohol and afterward ground in the usual wayfor re-manufacture, I therefore lay no claim to the reducing ofvulcanized india rubber to a powder, plastic or liquid state by suchmeans, but- I What I claim is-- The herein described process ofreclaming waste vulcanized rubber in its manufactured form, whichconsists in mincing lumps of rubber step-wise gradually into sma piecesand subsequently and progressively frictionally rubbing the said smallpieces between resisting surfaces to convert sai pieces into a highlyplastic mass.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence 0 two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS GARE.

Witnesses:

' BOSSHABDT,

STANLEY E. BBAMALL

